Reflections in Rose
by toxicSunrise
Summary: Yuzu Hiragi has never been more confused in her life. She knows Yuya better than anyone else, so why does she keep finding herself tongue-tied and riddled with doubt when her friend needs her? Who is the young man she met at the warehouse, and what's up with her bracelet? Retelling of certain events from Yuzu's point of view, starting with episode 7.
1. Chapter 1

Story warnings: Mild language and possible spoilers in later chapters. Slightly AU, this may increase in later chapters. Just wanted to get everything out of the way before anyone gets too invested. That said, I sincerely hope you enjoy the story!

Reflections in Rose

Hiiragi Yuzu felt like she wanted to catch _fire._ Knowing her father, this was probably a bad thing.

It was probably mere happenstance that she and Ayu had happened to run into the same pack of LDS thugs that had been Sawatari's lapdogs when he had picked a fight with Yuya earlier that week. Still, she found herself somewhat grateful for everyone's sudden desire for ice cream as she and Ayu had quickly ducked lower to the ground to decrease their chances of being seen. When she heard one of the lackeys say that Sawatari would do 'anything' to crush Yuya, a tremor of dread swept through her body. _Those spineless dogs are going to target the children again!_

"Yeah, he's going to attack that kid's weak points wherever he finds them," the second laughed, leaving no room for misinterpretation.

"Sawatari," she hissed under her breath as she hastened her steps to make sure that the thugs didn't drop out of sight.

"Yuzu-onee-chan…" Ayu yelped as she fell into line behind Yuzu. Yuzu could tell from the look and the younger girl's eyes that she knew enough about what was going on to be scared. Yuzu wished she had the time to send Ayu back to the school, but they couldn't afford to let those two boys get away. She had expected that Sawatari would make some move to get even with Yuya. Someone as cocky and careless with the safety of others wasn't the type of person to accept a loss with grace. But his tactics in the last duel were anything to go by, the school couldn't afford to sit around and wait to see what Sawatari's definition of 'crushing' an opponent was.

Their pursuit let them to the docks, an unusual place for someone from a rich family like Sawatari's to spend his spare time. The docks were largely mechanized, and security cameras were much more sparsely located. It was the perfect place for something truly unseemly to occur, and then be forgotten. Yuzu found that she wasn't just angry now, but she was frightened as well. Sawatari could very well have killed all of them at their last meeting, and she could only feel that this move to an isolated location meant something ominous. _Curses, I should have sent Ayu away!_

"Yuzu-onee-chan, should we let the others know?" Ayu asked, echoing her inner thoughts. It was the logical thing to do. Who knew what was inside the warehouse? _But if you leave, you will never find out. Yuya saved your life, saved everyone from Sawatari. He shouldn't have to do everything by himself._ Also, she truly, deeply resented being shoved into the role of a captured princess. Her smarting pride demanded that that upper-class twit be taught a lesson. _First, with my dueling. And then with the business side of my fan._

"Ayu-chan, you head back to Duel School first. You tell everybody where I am, and that Sawatari is up to no good again. I'm going to find out as much as I can the meantime about what he's doing, okay?"

"B-but…" Ayu stuttered as she wrung her hands together, clearly torn over the thought of leaving Yuzu by herself.

Yuzu put her hands on the younger girl's shoulders. "I'm counting on you, Ayu-chan. I'll be just fine, I'm a pretty strong duelist myself." Yuzu made herself smile confidently to punctuate the point. She was thankful for so many years of watching Yuya do the same thing and felt her respect growing for her best friend, because on the inside she was torn between rage and apprehension.

Thankfully, her act was enough to convince Ayu. A small smile crept onto the younger girls face. "I'll do my best!" She promised she spent off in the opposite direction. Yuzu watched the girl's retreating back. She really, really hoped she wouldn't need the safety net that Ayu's message would give her. She took a deep to steady herself breath as Ayu's tiny back disappeared around a corner and carefully made her way towards the door.

She really had been planning eavesdropping, probably until everyone else arrived, but when she put her head against the door all she could hear was murmurs. There was no way she was going to be able to hear anything useful through the thick doors. Still, it would probably be safest to wait for the others to come…

And then she heard Sawatari laugh, and the safe plan went right back out the window. "You coward!" She shouted as she threw the door open. She got the satisfaction of watching Sawatari choke on his food in shock. "You say you'll do 'whatever it takes' to crush Yuya? I won't let you!" She shouted at him.

"Hi-hiragi Yuzu?!" Sawatari spluttered, a far cry from his usual cockiness. Then again, it was hard to be cocky with pie stuck in your throat. The thought put a bit of a smirk on her face as she advanced. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't have to answer you, you have pie on your face," she sneered, hoping that the cheap shot at his looks would rile up the insufferable peacock. Instead of spluttering incoherently the way she had half expected, one of the goons quickly handed over a handkerchief for him to wipe his face off with. When he got to his feet and snapped his fingers, she knew she was in for another one of his rants. Even before he opened his mouth, she was already rolling her eyes. She was sure if she close them, she would be able to imagine a background sparkling rainbow lights and roses behind him like the sort of thing you see in cheap anime. He tossed the handkerchief away with a flourish and leveled a pointed finger her.

"Hiragi Yuzu! It looks like you've already fallen into our–"

"Duel me!" She spat, completely out of patience for his showy, chauvinistic behavior. She was not going meekly go off into the corner to become a hostage again.

Sawatari looked almost as surprised when she dared to interrupt him as he had been when she burst in through the door. Still, he tried to continue as if she hadn't spoken. "And beca-"

"I am not going along with your stupid plan. I'm going to beat the crap out of you!" She shouted, somehow even angrier than she had been before she walked in. They were all acting like just because they got the drop on her earlier that she was some stupid little girl that was completely incapable of defending herself. It made her blood boil.

"The goddess of victory is –"

"What, are you afraid you're going to lose to me? Tell me, is it because I'm girl, has your loss to Yuya completely shaken your empty confidence?"

As she predicted, that last verbal barb sailed through Sawatari's composure like one of his stupid darts. "You-you-you… How dare you! Let me finish, you dowdy, ugly little penniless tart!"

 _Tart? TART?_ Mentally, Yuzu tallied the number of smacks she had promised herself that she was going to give this idiot with her fan, and multiplied the number by ten. "I don't plan on listening to you! You're a coward, a _loser,_ and a second-rate duelist! You're not even fit to lick my shoes, let alone to challenge Yuya again!"

One of Sawatari's eyebrows twitched. "Second-rate, you say?"

With that, Yuzu knew she had him. "No, you're even lower than that. Third-rate! Fourth! A hundredth-rate duelist!"

Sawatari's proud head dropped he was looking at the floor, and his shoulders were shaking. Even though she couldn't see his face, she knew she succeeded. She'd be fighting him alone, there was no way he was going to let his gang interfere after the verbal thrashing she just given him. _And once you cut off the head of the snake, the body dies._ The goons would fold once Sawatari was defeated, it would be her victory.

"Now you've done it," Sawatari growled. Yuzu's head turned involuntarily as the door was closed behind her, taking with it some of her confidence. She'd seen movies like this before. They didn't usually end well for the heroine. _Don't psych yourself out. He's falling for your trick, you're not falling for his,_ she reassured herself. "What you just said… I'll give you this one last chance to take it back."

"If you want me to take it back, you'll have to win. That is, if a coward like you is capable of winning. Tell me, do you have any other… performance problems?" She wasn't exactly sure what that last insult meant, but judging from the way Sawatari turned beet red she was kind of glad that the upperclassmen she'd heard using it hadn't explained the joke.

"That ignorant attitude of yours… I'll have you know your place!" he bellowed as he put his duel disc on. Yuzu almost wanted to smile at how thoroughly she'd rattled his cage. Normally she wasn't one for this much trash talk… but normally her opponents didn't dangle her and three little kids off a collapsing tower for three quarters of a duel. Solid Vision was _not_ supposed to be used like that, and he was going to pay-

Sudden light and a scream dragged their attention. The flunky that had been guarding the door was tossed to the ground like so much trash as a cloaked figure strode in.

His(?) features were completely obscured by his heavy black cloak, mask, and goggles. The dark red scarf around his neck was the only splash of color she could make out. His hair was a wild dark mass sticking out from the top of his head, the color impossible to pinpoint in the glare of the setting sun. He strode forward purposely, the click of his boots the only sound that rang through the shocked warehouse. Yuzu found herself falling back half a hesitant step to get out of his way. _Is he some kind of gangster?_ She'd heard rumors like that about the warehouse district, but she'd never believed before. Maiami city was a safe place to live, everyone knew that. Regardless of who he was, the stranger kept advancing until he was standing practically on top of Yuzu. He paused for a moment, his face turning towards her. Even though she couldn't see his eyes behind the goggles, she didn't feel fear when he looked at her. If she didn't know any better, she almost said he was checking to make sure she was okay. The discordant moment of camaraderie passed as quickly as it had come, leaving her slightly disoriented as the stranger walked past her, and placed himself deliberately between her and Sawatari. "Step back."

Even though his voice was muffled by the mask, something about it seemed to pick at the inside of her brain. She felt like she should be able to place it for some strange reason. "Huh?"

Sawatari laughed as his goons all flocked behind him as if they could use him as a human shield. To Yuzu's ears, there was definitely a nervous edge to it. "What are you supposed to be, some kind of knight here to rescue the princess?" The stranger didn't even bother responding, he simply threw back his cloak and brandished the strangest duel disk she'd ever seen.

The princess comment dug under Yuzu's skin, grinding salt in the wounds left from her last encounter with Sawatari. "Hold on, what are you doing, butting in like this? I can take care of myself!" She grabbed her duel disk from her belt, but before she could strap it to her wrist his hand was between her arms.

"I don't want you to be hurt anymore," he told her quietly, tenderly. It wasn't the sort of tone someone would use with a complete stranger. Her heart thudded in her chest, and the world seemed to tilt slightly.

 _Everything is going to be alright now._

The thought was completely irrational. This guy was a complete stranger, she knew better than to trust someone like that. And yet, almost in spite of herself Yuzu found her tension easing. Was she _blushing?_ She'd better not be blushing. "Eh?" she muttered under her breath. Almost against her will, her hands lowered back to her sides. She was too confused this point to duel anyway.

"Oh? If you want to fight first, Dark Knight-kun, that's fine by me. The Princess and I can play after I'm done with you." The stranger said nothing in response, and that seemed to irritate Sawatari even more. Yuzu noticed, even if Sawatari didn't, that the masked man's shoulders had tightened at the way he had said 'play'. "Although, I'm a little interested in your duel disk. I can't decide if it's old or new. Where did you find something like that?"

"… Are you going to draw, or not?" The stranger finally asked, a faint tick of irritation entering his otherwise emotionless voice. _Well, well. Looks like Sawatari really_ does _annoy everyone._

"Well if you don't want to talk, that's fine by me. You will make a fine test run for my newest deck!" Sawatari proclaimed as he turned his duel disk on.

"I'll go first."

"Fine by me, Knight-kun," Sawatari sneered tacking on a sarcastic bow for good measure. For all the reaction he got from his opponent, he might as well have been invisible.

"I sent five cards face down and end my turn."

Everyone gaped at the play in confusion, even Yuzu. _Is he running a deck with a heavy focus on Spells and Traps, or did he just get a bad first hand?_ She wondered, even though her heart was still insisting that everything was fine. Sawatari, naturally, started to laugh again. Even his goons seems to lose their fear and join in the merriment. "So, you come in here with your tough guy act, and this is the best you can do Knight-kun? Not even a single monster in your first hand? I feel sorry for you."

"Didn't you hear me? I ended my turn _,"_ the stranger repeated, almost bored.

"Fine. I'll show you my perfect dueling!" Sawatari yelled as he drew. "If there are two or more card in my opponent spell and traps zone, I can special summon this card for my hand. Escher the Frost Vassal!"

 _Huh? That's… different. Did he just not use that card in his last duel, or is this a completely new deck?_ Somehow, she suspected the latter. _That little… it must be nice to have so much extra cash that you can throw out your entire deck when you lose!_ "I release Escher to advance summon Mobius the Frost Monarch!" Sawatari crowed as his lackeys cheered. Yuzu frowned. Even if it was stalled by the masked man's set cards, it was still a fairly powerful monster to see on the field in the first turn. "And now I activate Mobius's special effect!" _Of course you do._ "When this card successfully advance summoned, I can choose two magic or trap cards on the field and destroy them!" Cold wind whipped from Sawatari's monster, destroying two spell cards. Still, the masked man did not react. Sawatari paused for a moment, clearly still expecting some sort of banter from his opponent, but the masked man remained silent and immovable as ever. "Hah, still not impressed? Well I'm just getting started. I activate the magic card: Advance Carnival from my hand! This card allows me to advance summon again after an advance summon succeeds."

"Wait, so you went to all that trouble just to summon Mobius for its special effect?" Yuzu found herself asking.

"In part. I'm glad that one of you knows how to play the game… perhaps I should have chosen to battle the princess instead of the knight after all." Yuzu scowled right back at Sawatari's self-satisfied smile. "I release Mobius the Frost Monarch and advance summon! Come forth, Mobius the Mega Monarch!" Yuzu caught a glimpse of holofoil printing on the front of the card, designating it as one of the rarest of the rare. That card was probably worth more money than You Show Duel School brought in in six months. "Usually this would require releasing two monsters, but if it is a monster that was successfully advance summoned I can use one release instead. That is the power of Mobius the Mega Monarch! And now, I activate its special effect! When this card successfully advance summoned, I can destroy three magic or trap cards on the field. Freeze and Shatter!" Sawatari shouted as his monster wound up, gathering ice and cold wind in its hands. "Blizzard Destruction!" The last three cards on the stranger's field shattered in the icy gale. Yuzu shivered as the cold wind blew through her, clutching her bare arms stave off the chill. _Wait, why is there wind? This isn't an Action Field._ Her eyes scanned the room, but she didn't see any of the bulky equipment that would be needed to project physical effects to go with the holograms. _But just because I don't see them, doesn't mean they're not there…_ Yuzu scanned the room again, this time looking for anything that could disguise a field generator, but she still couldn't make out anything obvious. It was pretty clear that the tiny warehouse was too small to fit such bulky gear. Yet it was equally as clear that Sawatari's last attack had possessed physical presence. "With this, all of your set cards have been destroyed and your hand is a zero. On top of that, you don't have a single monster out. After that cool entrance, this is pretty pathetic."

Unfortunately, Yuzu had to agree with Sawatari… gut feeling or no gut feeling. "Hey, you have to get it together. If this is the best you can do, you should really let me help out." Her hand had barely reached towards her dual disk when the stranger looked back at her. Again she was overwhelmed by the sudden and complete conviction that everything was going to turn out fine, leaving her flabbergasted. _What the hell is the matter with me?_ It was like her instincts were telling her that this was someone she had known for years, but she was pretty sure the wild black hair and purple bangs coupled with the stoic attitude would have stuck out in her memory. _Am I actually going crazy?_ "Be careful," she found herself saying instead. "I don't know what's going on here, but the holograms definitely have mass."

The stranger cocked his head to the side, clearly confused. Sawatari just laughed. "Solid holograms, Hiragi? Don't be ridiculous. While I can certainly afford a generator, dragging something that heavy all the way out here would just be a waste. I'll admit the duel lacks a certain… _flair_ … without an Action Field, but sometimes sacrifices must be made." _What? I know I felt that wind earlier._ The warehouse had gotten noticeably colder since Sawatari had started activating his monster's abilities. Had he and his goons simply not felt it because they were all wearing jackets? "Now then, my gloomy Knight-kun… I'm sorry for the rude awakening, but I'd appreciate it if you stepped off the stage. I have a princess to humble," Sawatari declared, glaring angrily at Yuzu. The stranger didn't say anything, but he deliberately stepped in front of Yuzu, shielding her from view. "Battle phase! I make a direct attack with Mobius the Mega Monarch!" Sawatari's monster flexed, glowing spikes seeming to grow from its armor-

"I activate the magic card from my graveyard: Phantom Knight's Shadow Veil!"

Sawatari's gang made various noises of disbelief. "You're going to activate the magic card from your graveyard?" he yelped, as if he couldn't believe his grand strategy had possibly failed.

The stranger continued as if Sawatari hadn't interrupted. "When a direct attack is declared, I can summon as many of these cards as monsters as possible." He then revealed two more copies of the card that had been behind the first. _So that means… Sawatari was actually_ helping _by sending all those cards to the graveyard? This guy took advantage of the fact that most experienced duelists would want to destroy as many of those face down cards as possible before declaring an attack._ That was actually pretty the masked man went from having no creatures on the field to having three creatures in defense mode. The odds of him surviving the turn had jumped considerably. "When cards summoned using this special effect are sent to the graveyard, they are banished."

"That's nothing! Those are just pathetic wall monsters that you summoned while you were flustered!" Sawatari shouted. Yuzu could tell that the brash boy's confidence had been shaken slightly. "Go, Mobius! Attack Shadow Veil!" The weak monster was easily destroyed and banished. "Your cheap tricks don't phase me! I'll destroy your next turn."

"There won't be a next turn for you," the masked man said calmly.

"…What?"

"I draw." He barely looked the card in his hand before turning his attention to his opponent. "I thought you would put up more of a fight, but I feel no sharpness in your dueling. There isn't even a fragment of determination in your battle style… I would liken it to the empty flailing of a spoiled child." Yuzu bit back a giggle. The 'spoiled child' bit had certainly been right on the mark.

"What did you just say to me? What planet are you coming from? I'm not the one that's been on the defensive this entire duel, Knight-kun! I look at you and I see a wolf without fangs. Do your worst," Sawatari taunted.

"All of the conditions have been met. When there are two monsters of the same level on my field, my deck's evolution manifests itself! I use the two level four Shadow Veils to construct the Overlay Network!" The creatures vanished in a flash of dark purple light, combining into a glowing ball in the center of the stranger's field. "Formed from pitch black darkness to fight those foolish enough to oppose its treacherous fangs! Descend now!" Light exploded, blinding everyone temporarily. "XYZ Summon! Rank Four, Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!" A huge black and purple Dragon with glowing yellow eyes roared its defiance, shaking the walls of the shoddy warehouse. In the enclosed space it loomed ominously over everyone, making it seem even larger than it actually was. Orbs of violet light connected its wing joints and floated around it like comets orbiting a planet. _XYZ Summoning… I've seen it in tournaments on TV, but I've never seen someone do it in real life._ XYZ cards were so rare and expensive that she probably had a better chance of being struck by lightning than owning one herself.

Everyone gaped for a moment in stunned silence before Sawatari started to clap slowly. "I'll admit I was surprised when you pulled off an XYZ summon. It's a pity that it's still weaker than my Mobius." Yuzu snorted, impressed by the sheer magnitude of Sawatari's gall. _If that dragon_ doesn't _have a special effect, I will eat my barrettes._ "It seems your XYZ summoning is nothing but a desperate bluff! Such a pity," Sawatari mock-sighed.

"An XYZ monster's true power is the ability to use their overlay units to annihilate their foes."

"Enough with your lessons, I'm not interested." Sawatari sneered.

"Then I shall have you bear witness to their power. Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon's effect activates! By using one overlay unit, until the end of this turn it can lower the attack of one monster level five or higher on my opponent's side of the field by half and Dark Rebellion's attack increases by that amount." Dark purple lightning crackled around the black dragon's wings and then shot out at Sawatari's monster, binding it in chains of energy. "Treason Discharge!" he shouted as his dragon roared, its attack surging to 3900.

"Wh-what?" Sawatari gasped.

"I'm not done! I use the remaining overlay unit to activate Dark Rebellion's ability a second time!" Lightning flared, and the attack of Sawatari's Mobius dipped to 700, while Dark Rebellion's soared to 4600.

"Im-impossible! This can't be happening!" Sawatari gasped.

"Battle phase! I attack Mobius the Mega Monarch with Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!" The orbs in Dark Rebellion's wings flared, creating a membrane-like material that appeared to be made of solid blue light edged with crackling dark purple lightning. The lightning engulfed the wings as Dark Rebellion surged forward. "Revolt of the Lightning! Disobey!" The spike on the bottom of Dark Rebellion's jaw glowed impossibly bright as it slammed into Mobius. The monster exploded, throwing debris everywhere. Yuzu couldn't help screaming when the shockwave hit her, immediately throwing up her hands to protect her face as she braced her legs to keep from being thrown backwards. Strong arms circled protectively around her, shielding her from the force of the blast. Instinctively she clung to her rescuer as she heard the lights shatter. Metal screamed as the roof caved in and she buried her face in his shoulder. His arms hugged her even more tightly, almost strongly enough to be painful. She heard the telltale crunch of breaking glass dangerously close to her ear and flinched. _Glass? Must be my mysterious masked knight,_ she realized, remembering his goggles _._ Somehow, even with her eyes closed she'd already known it was him. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves as the aftershocks died. Under the scent of dust and acrid smoke he even _smelled_ familiar. She opened her eyes and forced her hands to let go of the front of his shirt. As soon as she did he let her go. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Thank you," she replied. The smoke was clearing, and Sawatari and his cohorts were alive. Battered and bruised, but alive. The masked man patted her on the shoulder, almost as if to reassure himself that she was still there, before turning back to his opponent.

"I will only ask you this once, and you will answer me properly!" He walked over to Sawatari and held up something small. Yuzu couldn't make it out from that distance. "Is this badge from LDS? What's your connection to Academia?" For the first time since he'd appeared, the masked man sounded truly, quietly furious.

"A-academia? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" The masked man snapped. "This is your last chance. I'd suggest telling the truth." As if to punctuate his point, Dark Rebellion growled and lowered its head closer to the ground.

"I'm telling the truth! I swear! Anyone that enrolls in LDS has a badge like that, and I've never heard of this Academia thing in my life!"

"…Then I have no business with you." The stranger turned to leave.

A normal person would have let things go that, grateful enough to be in one piece. Unfortunately, Sawatari was an idiot. "Fool, this duel isn't over yet! Trap activate: Ice Rage Shot! This card can only be activated when a water-type monster on my field is destroyed in battle! It destroys one of my opponents monsters and deal damage equal to that monster's attack! Your dragon is destroyed and you take 4600 damage!" Sawatari laughed wildly. "I read your moves ahead of time and planned ahead by setting that trap! Now I win! How's that for 'determination'?"

"Such cheap tactics… Its child's play, honestly," the masked man sighed, not even bothering to turn around.

"Are you _still_ looking down on me?" Sawatari howled. "All you have on your field is that Dragon! You've got nothing!"

"Your constant bragging and whining is pathetic. I activate from my graveyard the continuous magic card: Phantom Death Spear. When my opponents trap card activates by banishing this card for my graveyard I negate the activation of that trap card and destroy it. It then deals 100 points of damage to my opponent!"

"Wait. Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait!" Sawatari screamed, eyeing the spear hovering in the middle of the magic circle with dread. _This isn't an Action Field. His dragon already destroyed the building… parts of this place are still on fire… are there_ any _safeties in place?_ Despite the very real danger, she didn't feel any urge to try and stop the duel. It was as if despite what her mind was telling her, her heart was absolutely certain that this man wasn't going to kill or maim his opponent.

"Experienced this with your very own flesh! The rage in horror of the battlefield!" He roared as he whirled and pointed at his opponent. The spear flew forward, embedding itself in the wall a mere finger's breadth from Sawatari's ribcage as his life points dropped to zero. With the end of the duel the holograms dissipated, and Sawatari slid to the ground whimpering. The stranger stalked forward like an angry predator, ripping his mask off as he advanced until he was looming over the terrified Sawatari. "If I _ever_ see you anywhere near this girl again, the next time I won't miss. Do you understand?"

"S-sakaki Yuya! It was you the whole time?" Sawatari howled.

Yuzu gasped. She didn't hear what anyone said next, she barely noticed Sawatari and his thugs beating a hasty retreat. _That's… Impossible…_ She glided towards him as if in a trance. Yuya didn't have black and purple hair, he didn't dress like that, he didn't _duel_ like that. She known her best friend for years, and the Sakaki Yuya she'd grown up with would never have endangered everyone the way this man had when his dragon had torn off half the roof! He wouldn't have threatened Sawatari either. It was a mistake, a lie, some sort of sick joke.

The masked man turned around. His eyes were gray, not red, but he had Yuya's face. It had to be Yuya, who else could it be? _It does explain why I felt like I could trust him._ It didn't explain anything. Everything he had just done with so far out of character for her best friend that boggled belief.

"…Yuya?" She whispered. "Why are you dressed like that? How did you get here so quickly? What's going on here?" Out of nowhere the stone in her bracelet started to glow with a brilliant pink light. "What? What's happening now?" The light flared even brighter, blinding her before it suddenly died out. It took her a few moments to blink the spots out of her eyes, but when she did Yuya had vanished. The widespread ruin was the only remaining proof of his presence.

"…I am losing my mind. I am actually, literally losing my mind."

"Yuzu! Yuuuuzu!" A very familiar voice shouted. "Where are you? Answer me!"

"Yuya?" She cried. "I'm over here!" She shouted, running back towards the door of the warehouse.

"Yuzu?" He called, finally coming into view. It was the same Yuya she'd gone to school with earlier that day, same hair, same uniform, same pendulum necklace. "Are you okay? Everyone's been worried sick, your dad almost called the police! We've been looking everywhere for you, what happened?" The Yuya that had just been dueling had been gone for less than a minute. That could possibly be enough time to change his whole outfit and hairstyle. Could it?

"Yuya… you are Yuya, aren't you?"

"Um, duh? Who else would I be?" Now he looked even more concerned. "Don't take this the wrong way, but did you hit your head?" He scanned the warehouse, looking even more worried as he took in the sheer level of destruction. "This place is trashed, it almost looks like a bomb went off. Kind of smells like it too. Did Sawatari do this?"

"No. He… I… I don't want to talk about it."

"What do you mean you don't want to talk about it? What happened Yuzu?" He demanded, indignant.

"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Her eyes were watering, she wished she could blame it on the smoke. "I just want to forget today ever happened."

"…if that's the way you want it, I guess I can wait. When you do want to talk about it, you know where to find me."

"Mmmhmm," she muttered, her gaze falling to the floor. _What on earth is going on?_

"You know you're going to need a better excuse for your father, right?" Yuya pointed out.

"I guess…"

"Hey." Yuya gave her a quick hug. Her mind immediately flashed back to when the Not-Yuya grabbed her to protect her from the blast. The physical feeling wasn't the same, but the emotional security she felt in her best friend's hug was identical. He let go of her as quickly as he'd grabbed her, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder as he did so. "I don't know what's eating you, but it's gonna be okay."

"Yeah." _That couldn't have possibly been Yuya. It just doesn't make any sense._ She'd like to tell herself that she'd imagined the whole thing, but that was a little hard to do when parts of the building were still on fire. "I'll be fine." A new, disturbing thought finally broke through the confusion in her heart. "How are we going to explain this to my dad?"

"It will probably help if we're not here when he sees us again," Yuya noted. "We split up earlier, he should still be searching the other side of the docks. Are we going to do this the way we did the last time Sawatari reared his ugly head?"

"You mean the way we glossed over the danger to life and limb? Yes, that should work."

Yuya gave the ruined warehouse another long look and frowned. "I don't like worrying the principal but if Sawatari is doing stuff like this it's time to get our parents involved. Somebody could be seriously hurt–"

"It wasn't Sawatari that did this." The look of sheer terror on Sawatari's face as the lance had shot at him was going to stay with her for a long, long time. "I don't think he's going to be a problem anymore."

Yuya opened his mouth and closed it, his eyes troubled. He clearly had almost as many questions as she did, and Yuzu didn't have any answers. "I trust you," was all he said. That simple statement felt like a punch to the gut. She shouldn't be doubting Yuya, she shouldn't be doubting her own eyes. _As soon as I know what's going on, I'm going tell him everything_ she promised herself. Part of her wanted to tell Yuya right now, she hated keeping secrets from him. She couldn't think of any way to tell him that didn't make her sound stark raving mad.

"I know." For the first time since they'd left elementary school, Yuzu held Yuya's hand as they left the smoldering warehouse behind them.

* * *

While I enjoy Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V immensely, it always bothered me how much Yuzu waffled on the Yuya/Yuto dilemma. Sure, their faces are the same, but there's a whole host of reasons why Yuya and Yuto couldn't possibly be the same person. Different eye color, radically different hair color and style… These aren't things you can change in a few seconds. Not to mention that there was no way that Yuya could have gotten from the duel school to the warehouse in time to interfere in Yuzu's duel unless he teleported. Also, even if I _had_ thought my best friend had attacked someone I probably would have just lied to the people interrogating my parent… Especially if that someone had done the things that Sawatari did before Yuto thrashed him. But hey, I'm not Yuzu and it gave me a fun plot hole to play with. I've even come up with a semi-logical reason for why Yuzu's head is being screwed with. I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Writing with a broken hand sucks, by the way. I've been using a dictation device to get around having a hand in a cast, but it's not completely accurate. If you encounter a sentence that makes absolutely no sense, it was probably caused by Dragon mishearing what I said. It led to some truly hilarious typos, however. For example, one of the points where Yuzu said 'duel me!', the dictation system changed it to 'do me'. (Like I would ever let Sawatari get that lucky.) I'm pretty sure I got all the obvious ones, but if you see any spelling or grammar errors feel free to let me know. I literally have nothing better to do with my time than to correct them.

I have at least another week before I can go back to work, so I should have another chapter out soon. I'm also thinking of doing one from Yuya's perspective. (Tentatively titled Reflections in Crimson, so those of you that are current in the plotline should be able to guess what it's about.) I've also been sketching out a story about Sora's past, but I don't know what I'll do with it… Since we know so little about it, it could end up being massively AU. It's also shaping up to be super dark, so I think I'm going to see how people like this one before I put too much work into it. Let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

" _Yuzu…" a voice called her gently._

" _Mmm…" she grumbled, snuggling her face into her arms. She'd just gotten to that lovely, boneless state between waking and sleeping where every part of her body was warm and deliciously relaxed. All she wanted to do was wrap that feeling of peace around herself like a blanket and drift off into slumber. She wasn't moving for anybody or anything._

" _Yuzu, c'mon, it's not like you to sleep in class," the voice complained._

"… _liar. Lemme sleep," she whined. Of course this wasn't school, she knew what her bed felt like and what her room smelled like. She could feel the pillow cover under her fingertips. This was her room, and her time to sleep. No one was going to convince her otherwise._

" _Earth to Yuzu, this is Yuya speaking. You seriously need to get up before the teacher comes back, or you're going to be in huge trouble."_

" _Yuya…?" She forced her eyes open and blearily picked up her head. "What?" She yelped, falling off her chair in shock._

 _Spread before her was the classroom, every desk, window, and light fixture exactly the way she remembered. She was dressed not in her pajamas, but her school uniform. She'd been so sure she was in her bedroom… What was going on?_

" _Seriously, what's gotten into you lately? Are you okay?" Her best friend asked, offering her a hand up. She grabbed his hand and let him help her to her feet, looking at him for the first time since she'd awoken._

 _The boy standing in front of her had black hair with purple bangs, and pale gray eyes. The face was right, the uniform was right, but it wasn't Yuya. It wasn't! "Who are you?"_

" _What kind of question's that? We've been best friends for years… Maybe the question should be, who are you?" He retorted, pointing towards the window. Almost against her will, she turned to look at the faint reflection in the glass–_

* * *

Yuzu bolted upright in her bed, barely biting back a scream. This time, she pinched herself on the cheek as hard as she could. When the bedroom walls showed no sign of changing, she let out a shaky sigh of relief. "Looks like I'm really awake this time. And it's only…" Her eyes found her clock. "3:54 AM. Lucky me." She stopped checking the clock last night around 11:30, but she knew it taken her much longer to actually fall asleep. Which left maybe four hours of sleep, if she was lucky. _Today is going to suck,_ she admitted to herself as she staggered out of bed towards the bathroom. There was no way she was going back to sleep, not after that nightmare. A quick shower made her feel more like a human being, and less like death warmed over. _Aaah… that's much better,_ she thought as she stepped out. The sweat and the terror of her nightmare had been wiped out by the hot water and her favorite rose-scented shampoo. As she grabbed a towel to start drying off she felt… Well, she was still tired, but she didn't feel overwhelmed anymore. As she was drying her hair, her eyes focused on her silhouette in the mirror which was obscured by steam. Something about her hazy, indistinct reflection was getting on her nerves. She took the towel and wiped the condensation off the mirror. The towel left streaks all over the mirror, but it did the job well enough. Her face came into focus, the same face that always looks back at her. Pink hair with lighter pink streaks. Nose, mouth, and cheekbones all in their proper places. The blue eyes staring back at her were the same color that they'd always been. Everything was the same as it was yesterday, so why did she feel so ill at ease?

"I am not going to let you get to me," she promised her reflection. "Not you, not the fake Yuya, not anybody." She turned her back deliberately on the mirror and stalked back to her bedroom to ditch her towel for some real clothes. The one good thing about waking up so early was that now she had time to finish her homework. She hadn't been able to concentrate on anything last night, not after the warehouse…

 _Nope, I am not thinking about that. Today's going to be a good day, and I'm going to put that out of my head._

All right, it was probably best to start on the subject she'd made the least headway on – algebra. She turned on her lamp, and got out her paper, pencil, and textbook.

 _Okay, Yuzu, you can do this._

7x = 21 + 4x

Well, that was simple enough. Subtract 4x from both sides of the equation, then divide…

 _"Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon's effect activates! By using one overlay unit, until the end of this turn it can lower the attack of one monster level five or higher on my opponent's side of the field by half and Dark Rebellion's attack increases by that amount."_

Yuzu glared at the scattered x's and y's peppered through the equations that she was supposed to solve… none of which, she was fairly sure, added up to 2500. "All right textbook, this means war." She was going to beat the not-Yuya out of her head, one algebra equation at a time if need be.

* * *

By the time she got to Duel School, Yuzu had burned through her wellspring of determination, and then some. The lack of sleep had come very close making her nightmare come true more than once. Yuya had been shooting her concerned glances all day, even while he nudged her to stay awake and distracted the teachers if it looked like she was spacing out. Even though he helped cover for her last night, she still hadn't really given him an explanation for what happened at the warehouse. She felt bad about it, but what was she supposed to say? Should she lie? Or worse, tell the truth? _"Well, Yuya, this guy showed up who looked like your twin and used an XYZ dragon to trash the place. By the way, that was some stranger, right? You're not messing with me, are you?"_ Even in her head it sounded crazy. _And stupid. That guy wasn't Yuya. He wasn't!_ It wasn't just looks, or the way he talked. The whole way he dueled was _wrong._ Yuzu had never seen Yuya be as calculating as the masked man. His whole duel style was… Cold. Joyless. Everything that Yuya, even at most depressed, simply wasn't. _So why did I feel…safe when he was around?_ If she was just seeing things that weren't there, she'd be able to wrap her head around that. A heart didn't, wasn't _supposed_ to have hallucinations.

It didn't help that today her father had decided to go over advanced summoning methods, something that she could probably recite in her sleep. The boring subject material gave her no relief from her tortured thoughts or her exhaustion. If the teacher had been anyone but her own father, she might have been tempted to simply give up and fall asleep. But she couldn't embarrass him like that, and she had to set an example for the kids. She thought she heard her name mentioned,had h but she didn't want to turn and look at Yuya. She didn't want to see his concerned face again… _Or worse, see someone else's face…_

"Alright, let's move on to Fusion Summoning. Sora, since you're the expert here I'll let you explain."

Sora bounded out of his seat with a huge grin on his face and a donut brandished in either hand. "I activate my donut's effect! Vanilla Prince is powered up even more!" He bit into one without icing, scattering crumbs everywhere. The mess did nothing to detract from the huge grin on his face.

"Sora! What are you doing eating in class?" Her father looked over to her expectantly. _This is usually the point where I get mad and smack someone with my fan, isn't it?_ Somehow today, keeping everyone under control didn't seem nearly as important today, not with everything she had on her mind.

"Dad, I have a question. About XYZ summoning… That's not something we teach here, right?"

Everyone was staring at her now, even Sora had quit goofing around. _Strange how serious he can look with a donut sticking out of his mouth…_ The weight of everyone's combined scrutiny made her want to blush or crawl under the desk, but she ignored her embarrassment and pressed on. "Right?"

"No, we don't teach XYZ summoning here, Yuzu. You know that. I can teach what I haven't done myself… even LDS only recently started offering courses on it. The cards necessary for XYZ summoning are so rare, most the time there's no point in teaching classes on it. Why the sudden interest?"

"… No reason. Sorry for interrupting class," she mumbled, gazing automatically at Yuya for support.

"Are you all right?" He whispered. Her head reeled, and for a moment she was back in her nightmare, and there was a different Yuya looking up at her. She blinked and gasped, jerking back in shock. Just like everything was back to normal, except for the fact that Yuya looked worried sick. _That… that_ was _my mind playing tricks on me. I'm more tired than I thought._ "What? Seriously Yuzu, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. I just didn't sleep well, that's all…"

Yuya opened his mouth and then closed it. He was really upset, but he also seemed to have just as little idea of what to say to make it better as she did.

"You say he ambushed him?" Someone bellowed at the top of their lungs. "Yuya would never do something so cowardly! Do you even have a scrap of evidence to back up that outrageous claim?"

Pandemonium broke out in the classroom, and Yuzu's stomach dropped to somewhere around her ankles. _Sawatari. Damnit, this can't be happening! This is supposed to be over!_ She found herself trailing the end of the pack while everyone rushed out see what the problem was. She already knew what was wrong. _This isn't fair. It's not! Yuya didn't do anything wrong!_

* * *

"And there were four, no, _five_ witnesses! Isn't that right Hiragi Yuzu?" Someone bellowed at her the second she got outside.

Sawatari's posse were all skulking outside of the school, looking pretty good considering all the violence from the night before. Sawatari himself was conspicuously absent. _I have a bad feeling about this… Maybe I can bluff it out…_ "Witness to what?" She asked.

"Don't play dumb with us. You had your boyfriend over there beat us within an inch of our lives, just because you were upset over the duel from last week!" Ponytail declared.

"Yuya is not my boyfriend! And he's not my attack dog either!" Yuzu spat.

"Regardless of why he did it, Sawatari-san's in the hospital because of that crazy dragon! He's a menace, you both are!" Green-hair snarled.

"Hospitalized…?" Yuya muttered, obviously distraught. _Those lying… The masked guy pulled his last hit, and I know I saw Sawatari leave his own two feet._ Trust Sawatari to milk an injury for all it was worth.

"You meanies are all liars!" Ayu shouted, echoing her own thoughts. "The one who attacked first was Sawatari! Yuzu-onee-chan went to stop him, and I came back here to get everybody else! Yuya-oni-chan wasn't even there!"

"Wait, then wouldn't that mean that _Yuzu_ was the one who dueled Sawatari?" Her father asked.

"Exactly!" Ayu declared.

"Then… then the one who attacked him was Yuzu!" Her father shrieked.

"Dad…" Yuzu sighed, she was well past the point of being embarrassed by his antics.

"We just told you, the one who attacked was Sakaki Yuya!" thug three proclaimed.

"Poor Sawatari-san… What if he never recovers? How do you plan to take responsibility for what you've done?"

"T-take responsibility? I haven't done anything wrong!" Yuya protested. "C'mon, Yuzu, back me up!"

"I…" _C'mon, Yuzu, just tell them already. You know that wasn't Yuya. It's_ impossible _for that guy to have been Yuya, even the timing doesn't make any sense._ All she had to do was tell the truth, and then everything would be cleared up. Then they could chase that weird guy instead…

 _No._ Her heart froze her chest, and her throat closed up. _Why 'no'? This should be the easiest decision in the entire world!_ Some stranger's well-being shouldn't mean as much to her as Yuya's did… But if that was the case, then _why was she hesitating_? "I did see what happened, but…" Why couldn't she spit it out?

Yuya looked horrified. "Don't tell me you doubt me too, Yuzu!" The expression on his face… It was like she'd stabbed him in the back. _And I have. Yuya's been covering for me ever since last night, and_ this _is how I'm repaying him? Get your head together, Hiragi! You are better than this!_

"That's not it. I just–"

"It doesn't matter what you say… Sawatari-san's father, our future mayor, will make sure that you pay for this! The cops will catch you for sure!"

"Okay, I've heard enough! You are all going to start from the beginning, and explain this properly." For once in his life, her father looked completely serious. "Yuya-kun, call your mother."

"M-my mom?" Yuya yelped. "Seriously?

"Yes, Yuya-kun. These boys have made some pretty serious accusations, and while I believe you're innocent if the police are going to be involved, your mother should be present."

"Oh, I don't think that will be necessary."

Everyone turned back to the road, startled. While they been wrapped up in their argument, a white limousine and pulled up in front of the school. Out with the luxurious car stepped a beautiful woman. Everything from her stylish magenta business outfit to her gold jewelry, right down to her to perfectly styled violet hair screamed money. She couldn't have looked more out of place in front of the humble You Show Duel School if she'd fallen out of the sky. "I believe I can explain what happened here, and I also believe we may resolve this matter without further… unpleasantness." She smiled, but it was empty expression that didn't even touch her icy blue eyes.

Her father's eyes narrowed. "You're the chairwoman of LDS, Akeba Himika."

The woman smiled again, and it didn't look any more genuine this time than it had before. "I see my reputation precedes me. Perhaps it would be better if we discussed this inside?" She gave the outside of the building a disdainful glance, as if the mere thought of walking inside was beneath her. Yuzu held a spark of anger at the way this interloper casually dismissed the school. Sure, it wasn't the biggest for the most prestigious, but how did any of that give her the right to look down her pretty little nose like that?

"I think that might be a good idea," her father agreed, ignoring Akeba's frosty attitude. That, more than anything else, set Yuzu's teeth on edge. This was serious trouble, probably bigger than anything that they'd gotten themselves into before. As everyone shuffled somberly back inside, Yuzu silently cursed herself, Sawatari's lying hide, and the not-Yuya's overzealousness. _How am I going to resolve this?_

* * *

"As of this moment, we have the testimony of four of our students that Sakaki Yuya attacked Sawatari Shingo, as well as documentation of the damage to the warehouse in question which corroborates their story. I believe this is more than enough evidence to take to the police." Akeba Himika stated calmly, taking a sip of her tea.

"Really? Because I and most of my students can testify to the fact that Yuya-kun was right here until Ayu-chan ran back in and told us that Yuzu was in trouble. I also have security camera footage to back up my version of events, can you say the same?" Her father countered. Yuzu wanted to run up and hug him. _Finally, a way out of this mess!_

"Really?" Akeba asked, giving the room yet another condescending once-over. "I'm surprised you can afford security cameras in a place like this. Regardless, all you can prove is that Sakaki Yuya was here until a certain time. That doesn't automatically rule him out, now does it?" Yuzu went from being relieved to being apprehensive all over again.

"And all _you_ seem to be able to prove is that Sawatari Shingo was in fact attacked. I have yet to hear anything that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt my student is guilty. We seem to be at an impasse, Chairwoman Akeba. It makes me wonder what exactly it is you want."

"Are you sure you wouldn't be willing to hand the boy over? Can You Show Duel School really afford to be known as a school that trains violent, unstable duelists who lash out at any perceived slight?"

"The only thing the school can't afford to cave to blackmail. And are you sure that's what the public would see, Chairwoman Akeba? Are you sure they wouldn't see a _blatantly obvious_ attempt by the LEO Corporation to bully and destroy yet another independent dueling school?" Akeba blinked. "As you said, your reputation precedes you."

Yuzu almost smiled. She'd never been as proud of her dad as she was right now. "Very well. I see I cannot shake your resolve. But we cannot back down. If word got out that one of LDS's top-ranked students lost a duel to a nameless student from an unknown school, the damage to our reputation would be catastrophic. This will not be allowed to happen!" Akeba declared, eyes hard.

"You have no proof that–"

"That is no longer relevant!" Akeba shouted, surging to her feet. "The problem here is that the symbol of LDS has been dragged through the mud! The only way to clear this disgrace is a duel between schools!" She took a calming breath and sat back down. "Of course, if you win we will be willing to ignore the matter with Sawatari. I will personally make sure that all official inquiries are dropped. I'm sure you can understand, given his father's political clout, how valuable an offer this is."

Her father raced a skeptical eyebrow. "And if we lose?"

Akeba Himika smiled. It was the first real smile that she'd shown all day, and Yuzu didn't like it at all. It reminded her of a circling shark. "Then You Show Duel School will become part of LDS… as will Pendulum Summoning."

"This… This is an outrage!" Gongenzaka shouted. "This has nothing to do with the truth, or even your reputation! This was all about getting control of Pendulum Summoning from the start, wasn't it?"

"Hmm, is it? I usually have many reasons for making a decision, _boy_. We at LDS pride ourselves on offering courses for every type of advanced summoning. The advent of pendulum summoning has left something of a hole in our curriculum. It's selfish for one school to hoard something so amazing, don't you think? Of course, simply having a course lacks something without the pioneer of pendulum summoning on board, don't you agree? If we win, Sakaki Yuya and all of you here will be free to continue attending the school for the rates your parents are already paying. I may even be able to arrange some scholarships for truly… exceptional students." She gave Yuya a pointed glance. Yuya swallowed and took a shaky step backwards. Yuzu didn't blame him one bit. "I'm not here to rob anyone of their education."

"But… Pendulum summoning isn't possible without Yuya-ni-chan's special cards. Even if you start teaching a course, he'll still be the only one able to do it," Tatsuya pointed out quietly, almost as if he was afraid to speak too loud. Yuzu didn't blame him one bit.

She smiled her icy, heartless smile again. "This too, can be resolved with the LEO Corporation's resources. I'm sure with enough research, we would be able to mass-produce them, or even create new ones. If the schools merged, everyone would benefit. Of course, if the two schools were one and the same there would be no benefit to me to have Sakaki Yuya mired in the current… unpleasant situation. So either way, the charges against your friend and student are swept neatly under the rug. Everybody wins… That is, _if_ you accept my terms."

Her father gave the horrible woman a truly nasty glare, but even Yuzu could see his back was against the wall. There was no way they would be able to win a public relations war against the multimillion dollar LEO Corporation. If charges were brought, even if they did manage to win in court, the school would probably be forced to close anyway under the weight of the public backlash. There was also something truly, deeply disturbing about the way Akeba Himika seemed hell bent on getting her hooks into their lives, especially Yuya's. If they agreed to the competition and lost, they would all be at her nonexistent mercy. Yet her father refused to buckle under the weight of Akeba's machinations. Instead he turned his back deliberately on the woman, turning to Yuya instead. "Yuya, before we go any further, I need the truth from you. Did you, or did you not attack Sawatari?"

"I didn't! I'm innocent!" Her best friend turned towards her. "I don't know what you saw, Yuzu, but I need you to believe me. I swear I didn't do this!"

Yuzu found the strength to give him the smile he needed. "I believe you, Yuya." The relieved grin he gave her in return made her feel like an incredible ass. She let him down when he needed her the most. A simple smile and an 'I forgive you' wasn't going to change that.

"I, the man Gongenzaka, also believe in Yuya!" Their friend proudly proclaimed.

"What strong bonds you all have," Akeba declared. "Hopefully you can find some small comfort in each other during the coming trial."

Akeba's mocking words shook Yuya out of his funk. He rounded angrily on the buisnesswoman. "Dueling is not a tool for fighting… But I don't want You Show Duel School or pendulum summoning taken away by somebody else! You Show Duel School was created by my father to teach Entertainment duels! I don't want to give it over to someone like you that thinks they can control anyone with money and power!"

"It looks like we're all in agreement. We accept your challenge, Akeba Himika," her father proclaimed. "Provided, of course, that it's a fair challenge. My students will only be competing against other students in their competition brackets."

"Naturally," Akeba agreed as is the thought of cheating hadn't even crossed her mind. "What would it prove if I brought a group of adult duelists in here to manhandle a group of small children? How many of you are planning on participating?"

"I, the man Gongenzaka-"

"Um, you're not really a member of the school, are you?" Sora pointed out the older boy. "When it comes to people that are actually _students_ here, Yuya, Yuzu and I should be more than enough."

"What did you say you little brat…!"

"A three round match would be fine by me. There's no need to drag this out any longer than necessary, and with an odd number of competitors we shouldn't have to worry about ties," Akeba chimed in, already texting away on her phone. She was obviously trying to look bored, but she looked up for a moment and gave Yuya a second predatory glare. _What is_ up _with her?_ Yuzu wondered. _It almost seems like the point of this whole plot is getting Yuya under her thumb. Why does she care so much?_

"That sounds acceptable to me. How long will it take your students to get here? You're not the only person that has other things to do with their afternoon," her father retorted, finally taking some of the Akeba woman's condescension and sticking it to her.

"Oh, about twenty minutes. That should be more than enough time for all of you to prepare. We will reconvene at your dueling grounds shortly. And they are…?"

"On the roof."

"Really? That hardly seems safe. I suppose that will be one of the _many_ changes we will have to implement once we take over here." With that last parting shot, Akeba glided out of the office.

"I don't like her. She's really, really mean," Ayu told them. "If we lose the competition, does she become the principal?"

"For all practical purposes, yes," her father admitted. "That's why we have to win."

"I don't want to go to a school run by _her._ She gives me the shivers, and not in a good way," Futoshi complained.

"Principal… I'm so sorry. If it wasn't for me-"

"Don't apologize, Yuya. Like you said, you've done nothing wrong," her father reassured Yuya. "I get the feeling that the good Chairwoman has been planning on doing something like this for quite some time, and that this business with Sawatari was nothing but a convenient pretext. This has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with her. Some people just can't stand things that they can't control. Whatever her real reasons are for doing this, we're not just going to let that horrible woman come in here and take Entertainment Dueling from us, right?"

"RIGHT!" Everyone shouted as one. Despite everything that happened over the last day, Yuzu felt her spirit lifting. As long as they were all together, even facing down the LEO Corporation didn't seem as scary. Yuya glanced over at her and smiled, and she was finally able to smile back. No ghosts haunted her eyes in that moment, and everything was as it should be. All they have to do was win, and everything will be fine.

 _Please let everything be okay…_

* * *

Ha ha ha ha ha, DONE! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, I probably would have had it done yesterday or the day before, but something upsetting happened IRL Sunday evening, and it kind of killed my urge to write. More like I was too busy fuming to concentrate on anything, but it amounts to the same thing. I'm fine (or as fine as I can be with three pins in my left hand) but… Let's just say my friend's ex is a slimeball of a caliber that could possibly top Sawatari's behavior in his first appearance and leave it at that. And yes, I am factoring in the part where Sawatari put four people, three of whom were probably under the age of 10 in serious danger just to distract Yuya. **I hate this man**.

On things that pertain to the chapter, I know I altered a lot of the original dialogue, especially with Himika. Personally, I find it boring to reiterate exactly what happened in the episode. Also, Himika being a condescending jerk was a lot of fun to write. Do you guys like the changes?

And now, an important question for all of you. Should I rehash the Yuzu/Masumi duel or just skip to the end so I can go back to messing with Yuzu? I'm personally leaning towards the latter, but if enough people want to see the fight, I'd be happy to oblige. Feel free to drop me a line.


End file.
